Organophosphorus (OP) insecticides, extensively used agriculturally and residentially, display a variety of chemistries. OP insecticides demonstrate a wide range of acute toxicity levels, which are largely dependent on the compound-specific efficiencies of detoxication. Juveniles are typically more vulnerable than adults to the toxic effects of OP insecticides. The low immature xenobiotic detoxication capacity of juveniles contributes to their enhanced vulnerability. It is logical to conclude that compounds, which are readily detoxified in adults, will display relatively higher toxicity levels in juveniles than compounds, which are not readily detoxified; in other words, the so-called "safer" insecticides (based on low toxicity levels in adults) are of relatively more danger to infants and children than are the "unsafe" insecticides. The objective of this application is to determine the relative degree of vulnerability to toxic effects following exposures to a representative group of OP compounds in juvenile and adult rats, and to characterize the role of detoxication in these vulnerabilities. The hypothesis is: The lower vulnerability of adults to the toxicity of OP insecticides observed at high exposure levels is primarily the result of (he greater effectiveness of their mature detoxication systems; the age-related differences in vulnerability to individual OP compounds will be greater for the compounds which are less toxic to adults, i.e., those traditionally viewed as "safer" This hypothesis was derived from our preliminary findings that acute toxicity levels in both adults and juveniles are strongly related to the levels and the efficiency of several protective esterases. We plan to test our hypothesis by investigating the following two specific aims: 1. Determine for 12 select OP compounds the in vitro efficiency of critical detoxication mechanisms and of target enzyme sensitivity during development; and 2. Determine for these 12 OP compounds the contribution of detoxication mechanisms to the in vivo OP toxicity levels among ages. The project will utilize novel OP compounds synthesized in our laboratories, which demonstrate unique characteristics 0 inhibitory potency plus detoxication potential. The project will investigate the efficiency of hepatic and blood detoxication mechanisms (the protective esterases: carboxylesterases, non-target acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, A-esterase) and target enzyme (brain and peripheral acetylcholinesterase) sensitivity for each test compound. Experiments will be conducted in rats of 2 juvenile ages (1 and 12 days) and adults. We expect that detoxication efficiencies will be compound-specific, that the determination of the efficiencies of these protective esterases to detoxify the OP's will allow a prediction of how greatly the juvenile toxicity levels will differ from those of adults, and that there will be more dramatic age-related differences in compounds which are more readily detoxified. These results will indicate the contribution of detoxication to toxicity level, and will allow more accurate predictions of age-related differences in toxicity.